How Could Love Be Like That?

There’s
always somebody who is like a never ending story for someone. Somebody who,
even though they have left, left an everlasting lingering attachment toward
that someone. Somebody who, even though the relationship has broken, made that
someone kept the feeling of love for them. Somebody who got that someone so
much. Somebody who, even after a long time has passed, would make that someone
fell in love with them all over again. Somebody who, even after the long
separation, made that someone kept the promises for them. However, how could
love be like that? Could we ask the person who has left to not falling in love
with someone else? Could we beg the person who has walked away to wait until
they fall in love with us again? How could love be like that? How could someone
lost it because of love? Well, in love, as well as in separation, ones indeed
find and lose themselves at the same time; Lost
and Found.

“You
said you wanted to take a break from love, but still, I owe you a debt of
gratitude. For having accepted my love, for I’ve basked in your love, I’m
always feeling indebted to you. I’ve made sure and I’ve been so sure, that you
would be my last love. But maybe I was expecting too much, I’m not good enough
either to have you and to let you go.” –Lee Seung Hwan, How Could Love Be Like That (어떻게사랑이그래요)

Today’s
song for Lost and Found is a Korean
hits titled “How Could Love Be Like That (어떻게사랑이그래요)”,
performed by one of South Korea’s prominent and legendary male singers, Lee
Seung Hwan. The title of the song is also frequently translated as “How Could
Love Be” or “How Love Is” in English. It was first released on November 11th
2006 as the lead single from Lee’s ninth studio album, “Hwantastic”. Lee wrote
and released the song during the time of his divorce with actress Chae Rim,
after three years of marriage. And the lyrics obviously seemed to tell about
that story; about a broken-hearted man who keeps the promises of love even
though his lover has left him.

"Hwantastic" album cover - source: maniadb.com

I’m
not a native Korean, and I only learn it by songs and movies and dramas,
therefore it takes a little while for me to understand what this song is about,
despite the English translation that had been provided by some sources. After
that little while, and hearing this song multiple times, I’ve come to a thought
that it’s a song about someone who’s left by the lover, yet they don’t feel
like letting the love go will be that easy. “You
said you wanted to take a break from love, but still, I owe you a debt of
gratitude. For having accepted my love, for I’ve basked in your love, I’m
always feeling indebted to you.” Why does it so hard to let the love go?
Sometimes when we’re too attached with certain people, it’s not the people
that’s making us hard to let go; it’s the feeling. The way we feel when we’re
with them, they way we are when we’re with them; those kind of feelings, hopes,
and promises; feeling of expectations. “I’ve
made sure and I’ve been so sure, that you would be my last love. But maybe I
was expecting too much, I’m not good enough either to have you and to let you
go.” But sometimes, the time is not on our side. And most of the times,
love is leaving just when we begin to realize how much it means for us. “I still have more than ten thousand words
of love to tell you, for more than a hundred years. We’re meant to be together,
no matter how undesirable or karmic our love is.”

The
thing is, a feeling can’t be wrong. We feel it with all of our heart, body, and
mind. We don’t know exactly why and where it comes from, but somehow we just
feel it when we’re destined to fall in love with someone, all over again, even
after a long separation. “No matter how,
whatever will be, we’ll meet again and fall in love. Until then, please don’t
be in love with someone else, please don’t.” But how could a love be like
that? “To me, you are a never ending story,
a yearning of my heart. Those pleasant lies, those secret promises, my love
will keep those promises.” How could we stay loyal to a person who has
left? How could we keep the promises to a person who has walked away? How could
we keep feeling the love for a person who has broken it? “I love only you, I remember only you, I need only you, that’s what you
are to me. Hope I’m only yours, the promises made just between us, my love will
keep the promises.” How could love be like that? Well, apparently somehow
we just could, and yes, there’s a love that just could be like that. “No matter how, whatever will be, we’ll meet
again and fall in love. Until then, please don’t be in love with someone else.
How can love be like that?”

The
music video of “How Could Love Be Like That (어떻게사랑이그래요)”
was released and featured actor Kim Shi Hoo and actress Jung Sung Mi as models.
First time I heard this song was when Lee Seung Hwan performing it as an
opening for the entertainment music program, “Immortal Songs 2: Singing the
Legend”. It was during the 64th episode when Lee appeared as the legend in the
show. That Lee Seung Hwan special
episode was aired on September 1st 2012 on KBS television station, and
broadcasted by KBS World channel on September 22nd 2012. The legend’s opening
performance with his rock ballad track awed the audiences and the participants
of the show, as expected from the prominent vocalist.

“To
me, you are a never ending story, a yearning of my heart. Those pleasant lies,
those secret promises, my love will keep those promises. I love only you, I
remember only you, I need only you, that’s what you are to me. Hope I’m only
yours, the promises made just between us, my love will keep the promises.”
–Lee Seung Hwan, How Could Love Be Like
That (어떻게사랑이그래요)

“Sarangi jamsi
swieogandaeyo nareul heoraghan gomaum

(You
said you wanted to take a break from love, but still, I owe you a debt of
gratitude)